Our elementary school plans are currently on hold while we await resolution on the Arizona ESA expansion. For more information, call 928-243-7928.

Excellent Education Is Christian Education

Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran School is a new school in Taylor, Arizona, brought to you by the fourth largest private educational system in America. We have over 160 years of experience in education and enroll tens of thousands of students across the country.

Private: We aren't owned or operated by the government. We use government standards as a baseline, but have the freedom to follow our own rigorous standards and methods.

Non-profit: We're a true nonprofit in the sense that a nonprofit should be. We pay reasonable salaries to our teachers and any other employees. Every dollar that comes in is used in some way that directly benefits our students. No one is secretly getting rich behind the scenes. We don't even keep our budget a secret. Just ask if you'd like us to go over it with you.

Christian: This is really the heart of the education at Immanuel. We have a lot of respect for all schools where teachers do their best to serve students. But a school that isn't a Christian school is missing an important – the MOST important – part of education. We don't believe that children are merely sophisticated biological computers. We believe that every child, every human being, is a person made by God who has given them "[their] body and soul, eyes, ears, and all [their] limbs, [their] reason, and all [their] senses" (Luther's Small Catechism). Because of this, any education that fails to develop a child spiritually is a fundamentally flawed education. Parents can compensate for this, but how much better it is if a school supports and works with parents!

A person develops spiritually by learning to understand our place in God's creation, our relationship with him and with one another. What does God's law demand? What does God promise me? Who is Jesus, and how do his accomplishments affect my relationship with God and with my neighbor? In our schools, religion is not merely a subject, but it shapes our whole approach to teaching. "In Lutheran theology, it is the Gospel ... that restores a person to full humanity" (Thomas Korcok, "Lutheran Education" 253).

Why Lutheran?

Lutherans are Christians who live by the motto: "Faith Alone, Grace Alone, Scripture Alone." Martin Luther started the Lutheran Reformation in the early 1500s by wanting to teach people the Bible. It was never his goal to start a new church, but his focus on the Bible clashed with the authority structure of the Roman Catholic church, and so he was excommunicated. From the beginning, education has been a major focus for Lutherans. Martin Luther has been credited with inventing modern education and his associate Philip Melanchthon was awarded the title "Praeceptor Germaniae" ("Teacher of Germany").

500 years later, Lutherans still want every child to have access to a great education that helps to develop them in body, mind, and soul. Whether they become doctors, lawyers, politicians, farmers, or focus completely on raising a family, we want them to be equipped to be strong Christians who find fulfillment in living for others and knowing their Savior Jesus, who died and lives for them.

Our School Plans

We're hoping to open our school for the 2019-2020 school year. Our plans have been on hold waiting until this November, when the Arizona voters will decide whether or not to pass an expansion to Empowerment Scholarship Accounts, which would help families afford private education, including ours. We're doing everything we can to keep tuition down, but passing this law would make a big difference for the families in our area. Without it, we may not be able to start the school at all. So tell your family and friends to vote "YES" on Proposition 305 this fall.

Our plan is to start with lower grades and slowly expand from there. The exact grades for 2019-2020 have not been decided, but it will likely be Kindergarten, first grade, and second grade. If there is enough interest, we will consider others. Let us know of your interest by filling out the following form.